Unit IX. Coherence

Key words: coherence, constituent, mental model, semantically meaningful, cling together, interchangeably, overall, consistency, purpose, voice, content, style, form, perception,integral feature, message, express itself, semantic integrity, linguistic ways, language mechanisms, separrate, repetition, synonymy, antonymy, parallelism.

Coherence is a key concept of text linguistics. Many definitions of “text” include coherence as a necessary feature. Coherence is especially relevant to the research on text comprehension and text clarity. A text should be designed in such a way that the reader may detect the relationships linking individual text constituents and thus may build a coherent mental model of the text's content. Coherence is a one of text-formative categories. Coherence makes a text semantically meaningful. The word coherence comes from Latin. It means “cling together”.

When the big parts of the text fit, we call that good feeling coherence; when sentences connect we call it cohesion. Until the mid 1970s, cohesion and coherence were often used interchangeably. But by the early 1980s, the two terms were distinguished. Cohesion is now understood to be a textual quality, attained through the use of grammatical and lexical elements that enable readers to perceive semantic relationships within and between sentences. Coherence refers to the overall consistency of a text–its purpose, voice, content, style, form, and so on. It is in part determined by readers’ perceptions of texts, dependent not only on linguistic and contextual information in the texts but also on readers’ abilities to draw upon other kinds of knowledge, such as cultural and intertextual knowledge. Thus coherence is a continuity of senses.

Coherence is the most integral feature of any message, which expresses itself in its semantic integrity and has linguistic ways of expression. These ways are language mechanisms. They connect separate elements and form semantic unity.

A text can be cohesive through the use of the following devices:

1) Repetition.An instance of using a word, phrase, or clause more than once in a short passage. Repeating the same word, phrase, clause or even a sentence can give effective emphasis.

2) Synonymy. If direct repetition is too obvious, there is a use of a synonym of the word which is need to be repeated. Synonyms are words with the same meaning. Not many exact synonyms exist, but many words have similar meanings. It is necessary to be careful in using synonyms because they may have different connotations ,even though they seem to have the same meaning according to the dictionary as in the following example: I have always liked you very much, I admire your talent , but I could never love you.

3) Antonymy.Using the 'opposite' word. They are words of the same category of parts of speech which have contrasting meanings. Together with synonyms theyhave expressive meaning.

4) Parallelism. Repeat a sentence structure.Parallelism in sentences refers to matching grammatical structures. Elements in a sentence that have the same function or express similar ideas should be grammatically parallel, or grammatically matched. Parallelism is used effectively in formal writing or speeches.

Ex.: with -ing forms: Parallel: I like hiking, swimming and bicycling.

- infinitive phrases: I like to hike, to swim and to ride a bicycle.

- not parallel: I like to hike, to swim and riding a bicycle.

The category of coherence concerns not only a message on the whole but also its every meaningful part. Within the framework of the entire text, coherency is realized as mutually dependent and determining one another components.

Texts can be coherent at what is called the ‘local level’ and the ‘global level’. Local-level coherence is that which occurs within small portions of texts, usually within texts no longer than a paragraph. A text is said to have global coherence, on the other hand, if the text hangs together as a whole.

PRACTICE

Exercise 1.Think over the following statements and say whether they are right or wrong:

• The terms ‘Coherence’ and ‘ Cohesion’ are used similarly.

• Coherence is a very important issue in text grammar.

• The main aim of the text is to be comprehensible to the reader or listener.

• Coherence doesn’t make text meaningful.

• The word ‘coherence’ comes from German.

• When sentences connect it is called coherence.

• When the big parts of the text fit it is called cohesion.

• Coherence is the continuity of senses.

• Repetition, synonymy, antonymy and parallelism are the coherence devices.

• Repetition is a device which prohibits to use the same linguistic unit several times in a text.

• Synonyms are words, phrases, clauses and even sentences with the same meaning.

• Antonyms are words, phrases, clauses and even sentences with opposite meanings.which requires to use matching grammatical structures.

• Parallelism is a linguistic device

Exercise 2.Read the text attentively and say whether it is coherent. Analyse the use of synonyms in the paragraphs.

1.Old means having lived a long time, far advanced in years; elderly means approaching old age, between middle and old age, past middle age, but hardly old; aged is somewhat old, implies greater age than elderly; ancient is so old as to seem to belong to a past age.

2.To create means to make an object which was not previously in existence, to bring into existence by inspiration or the like; to manufacture is to make by labour, often by machinery, especially on a large scale by some industrial process; to produce is to work up from raw material and turn it into economically useful and marketable goods.

3. To break is to separate into parts or fragments; to crackis to break anything hard with a sudden sharp blow without separating, so that the pieces remain together; to shatter is to break into fragments, particles and in numerous directions; to smash is to destroy, to break thoroughly to pieces with a crashing sound by some sudden act of violence.

4. To cry is to express grief or pain by audible lamentations, to shed tears with or without sound; to sob is to cry desperately with convulsive catching of the breath and noisily as from heart-rending grief; to weep means to shed tears more or less silently which is sometimes expression of pleasurable emotion.

5. Battle denotes the act of struggling, a hostile encounter or engagement between opposite forces on sea or land; combat denotes a struggle between armed forces or individuals, it is usually of a smaller scale than battle, less frequently used in a figurative sense; fight denotes a struggle for victory, either between individuals or between armies, ships or navies, it is a word of less dignity than battle, fight usually implies a hand-to-hand conflict.

Exercise 3.Find antonyms and antonymic phrases in the following texts.

1. P. (policeman) (holding up his hand): Stop!

V. (visitor): What’s the matter?

P.: Why are driving on the right side of the road?

V.: Do you want me to ride on the wrong side?

P.: You are driving on the wrong side.

V.: But you said that I was driving on the right side.

P.: That is right. You are on the right, and that's wrong.

V.: A strange country! If right is wrong, I'm right when I'm on the wrong side. So why did you stop me?

P.: My dear sir, you must keep to the left. The right side is the left.

V.: It's like a looking-glass! I'll try to remember. Well, I want to go to Bellwood. Will you kindly tell me the way?

P.: Certainly. At the end of this road, turn left.

V.: Now let me think. Turn left! In England left is right, and right is wrong. Am I right?

P.: You’ll be right if you turn left. But if you turn right, you'll be wrong.

V.: Thank you. It’s as clear as daylight.

2. Flying instructors say that pilot trainees are divided into optimists and pessimists when reporting the amount of fuel during flights. Optimists report that their fuel tank is half full while pessimists say it’s half empty.

3. The canvas homes, the caravans, the transportable timber frames – each had its light. Some moving, some still.

4. His words seemed to point out that sad, even, tragic things could never be gay.

5. It was warm in the sun but cool under the shady trees.

6. He is my best friend and he is my bitter enemy.

7. Every man has feminine qualities and every woman has masculine ones.

8. He hated to be exposed to strangers, to be accepted or rejected.

Exercise 4.Give as many synonyms for the italicized words in the following jokes as you can.

1. “I hear there’s a new baby over at your house, William,” said the teacher. “I don’t think he’s new,” repliedWilliam. “The way he cries shows he’s had lots of experience.”

2. A little boy who had been used to receiving his old brother’s old toys and clothes remarked: “Ma, will I have to marry his widow when he dies?”

3. Sma11 boy (to governess):Miss Smith, please excuse my speaking to you with my mouth full, but my little sister has just fallen into the pond.

4. A celebrated lawyer once said that the three most troublesome clients he ever had were a young lady who wanted to be married, a married woman who wanted a divorce, and an old maid who didn’t know what she wanted.

5. Воss: You are twenty minutes late again. Don’t you know what time we start to work at this office? New Employee: No, sir, they are always at it when I get here.

6. He (as they drove along a lonely road): You look lovelier to me every minute. Do you know what that’s a sign of? She: Sure. You are about to run out of gas.

7. Husband (shoutingupstairs to his wife): For last time, Mary, are you coming? Wife: Haven’t I been telling you for the last hour that I’ll be down in a minute.

8. “Oh, Mummie, I hurt my toe!” cried small Janey, who was playing in the garden. “Which toe, dear?” I inquired, as I examined her foot. “My youngest one”, sobbed Janey.